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ASSESSING PRACTICAL AND
EFFECTIVEWAYS OF REGULATING
CONTENT WITHIN THE DIGITAL
ECOSYSTEM
Dr. Mashilo Boloka
South Africa
IMPACT OF DTT ON CONTENTNote: DTT ushers a multichannel environment
Effects: A period of disruptive change evidenced by:
• Demand for content and intense competition thereof: the local
capacity?
• Heightened broadcasting signal piracy
• Channels are becoming more specialized and niched
• Tech-neutrality vs tech-specificity of content rights
• Content not previously in the mainstream regulation becoming
brought in
• Changing content business models
• 3-tier broadcasting system blurring and difficult to maintain
• Rising Content costs
• Changing viewing patterns and revision of prime-time
•
LESSONS FROM EUROPE
AFTER ASO - EBU• multiplication of the channels = more fragmentation of the offer =
reduction of the audiences = more import of foreign contents
• reduction of the audiences for national channels = less advertising
incomes = less resources for production. In Italy over 2 digital years –
18% for the top 6 channels
• less social cohesion: citizens are not anymore seeing the same
programme at the same time
Therefore, regulatory flexibility in view of changing environment is
required.
Rationale for content
regulations • Economic
• Social
• Political
• Cultural
• Transformation (SA)
EMERGING CONTENT
REGULATORY ISSUES &
REGULATORY CHALLENGES• IP frameworks being strengthened (globally): The capacity of
regulators
• Declining public broadcasting systems and growing Pay TV: implications for local cultures and content
• Unchanging power shift in content flow: Strengthening local content quotas (see Tanzania, Discovery Communications Annual Report)?
• Note: regulation alone may not adequate: Incentives in funding
content production may assist
• Unprecedented demands (spectrum, audience,
• Rapid hogging of premium content: implication for competitive landscape or entry by new role-players
• The difficulty and inadequacy of separate regulatory environment (Classification Authority, broadcast regulators, Copyright commissions, competition authorities)
TRADITIONAL AREAS OF
CONTENT REGULATION• Local content quotas
• To promote local cultures & industries
• Classification
• Protection of children against harmful content
• Political content, including elections
• Hate speech and level the political landscape
• Time channel (Prime-time)
• Must Carry obligations or retransmission consent
• Universal access to public broadcasting
• Ownership & control rules
• To promote diversity of content
• 3-tier system
• Content of National Interests
• To enhance its universal access
• Content Commissioning and acquisition
• To guard against uncompetitive behavior and improve transparency
Effective regulation in a DTT
ecosystem• Notes:
• A lot of content infringements will occur on non-traditional
broadcasting platforms
• It’s not the number of channels that will ring about content
diversity : See the Pay TV business models, Repeats and Imitative
Uniformity
• Overcoming the advantages gained by incumbents beyond ASO
who received incentive channels
Effective regulation in a DTT
ecosystem• Light touch instead of heavy handedness
• Emphasis on compliance and enforcement instead of
regulatory formulation
• DTT brings efficiency through compression: Therefore, a
compressed regulatory system:
• Co-regulation (local and global)
• Single regulatory instruments instead of multiple sets
CONCLUSION
• DTT presents:
• Global ecosystem,
Note: signal piracy, harmful content, Spectrum, like terrorism, are
all global problems requiring a global strategy, hence the
importance of multilateral treaties
• Holistic,
• Though economically oriented it has to be public centric
• It will be unpredictable and imperfect (trial and error) system
• Requires partnership
• Flexibility in regulation will be key.
• In DTT environment , regulation has to be a real Balancing
Act…
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